Libyan Islamic Fighting Group

The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), also known as the Libyan Islamic Movement, was a Salafi jihadist militant group that was active from 1995 to 2017. The group was founded by Libyan Mujahideen veterans of the Soviet-Afghan War, with Abu Laith al-Libi and Noman Benotman founding the LIFG in Afghanistan. The LIFG sought to assassinate Muammar Gaddafi and overthrow his oppressive and "anti-Muslim" regime and create an Islamic state in its place. The group developed an association with al-Qaeda, with Abu Laith, Abu Yahya al-Libi, and Atiyah Abd al-Rahman becoming top al-Qaeda leaders. After the 9/11 attacks of 11 September 2001, the LIFG was banned worldwide, despite its claims that it refused to join Osama Bin Laden's war against the West after 1998. During the Libyan Civil War in 2011, it allied itself with the National Transitional Council forces, and it joined the Libya Shield Force in 2012.